Quotes from Conrad Hall

There are a lot of directors who are knowledgeable about images, and others who aren't.

Every cinematographer I worked with had his own way of solving problems.

I think one of the reasons people quit is because they're afraid they won't be able to get better and better; that they have to come to a zenith of some kind.

Every once in a while, when the audience is expecting to see one thing, you have to show them something else.

That's why I like fast film. It gives you more freedom to light more naturally.

You are always a student, never a master. You have to keep moving forward.

It is also difficult to articulate the subtleties in cinema, because there aren't words or metaphors which describe many of the emotions you are attempting to evoke.

I was very happy sitting alone at a dining room table, writing a script.

The closer the source of light is to a subject, the broader the beams are.

There are infinite shadings of light and shadows and colors... it's an extraordinarily subtle language. Figuring out how to speak that language is a lifetime job.

With today's fast films, you can light the way your eye sees the scene. You can abuse the film and create subtleties in contrast with light and exposure, diffusion and filters. That's what makes it an art.

It was 100 feet of 16 mm black-and-white film of a car coming to a stop sign, and driving off. I had to decide how to frame and light it. It was magic. There was a sense of mystery.

I was very happy sitting alone at a dining room table, writing a script.

I saw Tequila Sunrise as a romantic picture with complex, bigger than life characters.

There is a kind of beauty in imperfection.

Dad, wherever you are, you are gone but you will never be forgotten.

That's why I like fast film. It gives you more freedom to light more naturally.

Cinematography is infinite in its possibilities... much more so than music or language.

I realize that every picture isn't a work of art.

I hope I'm still shooting when I'm 80.

It took a while for me to grasp that my colleagues believe I have made an impact on the history of cinema.

Billions of people have seen and been influenced by movies in the short history of this industry.

It was 100 feet of 16 mm black-and-white film of a car coming to a stop sign, and driving off. I had to decide how to frame and light it. It was magic. There was a sense of mystery.